Tag Archive | "Software"

Posted on 05 August 2011

According to Asymco analyst Horace Dediu, in the first quarter of 2011 Microsoft stunningly brought in five times the revenue with Android devices compared with the cash generated by Redmond’s own Windows Phone 7 OS. For the second quarter, the ratio has dropped but at 3:1 is still an ironic situation.

Asymco analyst Horace Dediu tweets that Microsoft earned 3 times the money from Andriod than from its own mobile OS in Q2

Dediu said in a tweet that for Q2, Microsoft received $21 million from royalties on 1.4 million Windows Phone 7 units sold from which Microsoft received a $15 license fee on each phone. At the same time, the company brought in $60 million from the sale of 12 million HTC Android phones from which it receives $5 in royalties for each unit sold. The analyst used Canalys’ Windows Phone 7 sales estimates and HTC’s own statement that it shipped 12.1 million handsets in Q2 (although it is not known how Dediu figured that they were all Android models).
While the amount of money involved isn’t that important for a multi-billion dollar company like Microsoft, just the idea that the company’s fortunes were improved more by a rival mobile OS than from the firm’s own home grown software shows just how inbred the whole mobile OS business has become thanks to patents, royalties, licenses and lawsuits.

Posted on 05 August 2011

Well folks, it’s actually starting to roll out as we speak and brings the software version to VS910ZV6. Granted that people are still probably more concerned about a Gingerbread update, they should nonetheless take this one with open arms since it appears to pack quite a wallop with its offerings. For starters, it features a ton of new bug fixes that seriously irons out most of the handset’s loose ends. Furthermore, we see updates available with some of the handset’s preloaded apps.

Of course, the list of changes with the update are fairly extensive, but you can find all the juicy details on the LG Revolution’s support page. From the sound of it, the update should be immediate for most people, but if not, you can always check manually under the software update section in the Android settings menu.

Posted on 05 August 2011

Cut The Rope is one of the most addicting puzzlers on the App Store, and that’s one of the main reasons behind the anticipation surrounding Cut The Rope: Experiments, a sequel to Om Nom’s adventures available now on the App Store. It’s nothing ground-breakingly new, but rather more of the good old rope slashing experience. The biggest improvement seems to be in controlling the rope as you now have more additional mechanics. The first 25 levels basically walk you through the mechanics of the first game and the more experience rope cutters will feed Om Nom fast to get to the next set of levels. There’s two more sets, or a total of 75 levels, which you can expect to go through in less than two hours.

The new plot circles around Om Nom being taken for experiments by the Professor who’s carrying a number of tests to find out why the animal has such affinity to sweets. He adds comments to liven you up, but except for that doesn’t contribute much to the gameplay.

Posted on 04 August 2011

Despite Microsoft scoffing at Skype turning to Google’s open WebM codec for video calls, the chat software is pressing ahead with its roadmap for the year as planned.

A new version has appeared in Android Market that allows two-way video chat on more than the initial four Android phones. Basically almost every popular phone from the major Android manufacturers is now supported, but the Sony Ericsson Xperia arc, for some reason.

Oh, well, you can always download the hacked version and try to cram it in anyway, like everyone did when the two-way video calling feature was announced for only four handsets a little while ago. Hit the “What’s New” section of the Skype app listing in Android Market to check if your handset is supported.

Posted on 04 August 2011

Back at CTIA 2011, we managed to get a small sampling of the Samsung TouchWiz UX interface running on prototype units of the original Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, but after some wait, we’re finally able to experience it in all of its glory. Stopping by the Samsung Experience Center in New York City, we managed to get our review unit updated with the actual final build of the new customized Honeycomb experience – and honestly, we’re rather excited to see how Samsung is able to further beautify the already gorgeous platform.

Visually, the TouchWiz UX interface shares many commonalities with its smartphone platform brethren with its adjustable live panels. Though nice, it’s not the most visually alluring interface we’ve seen – mainly because it’s a bit more static with its approach, as opposed to employing a ton of 3D transition effects. Regardless of that, some will appreciate that live panels are customizable in size so that you can lengthen them to your liking. Moreover, things like the weather and clock live panels offer all the usual set of pertinent information. With some others though, like the Gmail and Social Hub ones, there’s a bit of interaction with them. Unfortunately, the TouchWiz UX interface appears to have some noticeable performance issues with the tablet’s responsiveness – and it’s more prominent with live wallpapers active…

Posted on 04 August 2011

For those Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 owners unable to make it to New York City to get the TouchWiz UX update for the Honeycomb tablet, you’ll be interested to know that an over-the-air update for it will start rolling out August 5th.

That’s not too shabby seeing that the commute into the city can be costly and cumbersome for some people. Not only will it offer the first customized Android Honeycomb experience, but Samsung throws in quite a few other niceties that will enhance the total experience.

However, if there’s one new thing that most people will appreciate more than others, it has to be the new “Mini Mode Tray” that offers quick access to paneled apps like the Task Manager, Calendar, World Clock, Pen Memo, Calculator, and Music Player.

Getting it doesn’t take a rocket scientist because you’ll only need to navigate to the system updates section under the Android settings menu to get it.

Posted on 04 August 2011

Honeycomb’s very own sleeping beauty, the Toshiba Thrive, has been plagued by a mystical bug that somehow caused some units to not wake up once it entered sleep mode. Last week though, Toshiba came out to inform us all that a software update was in the works to address the problem, but more importantly, it was promised to become available this week.

Well, kudos to Toshiba for obviously following through because starting today, a new software update for the Toshiba Thrive is being pushed out as we speak. Rather than following the usual update process we tend to see with Android, owners need to run Toshiba’s very own “Service Station” app in order to download it. In addition, the update enhances the multimedia playback capabilities of the device.

So there you have it folks, there is no more oversleeping problem for this Honeycomb tablet! In the greater scheme of things, it’s nice to see Toshiba working diligently of late to get this update out as soon as possible – and it’s right on cue as promised!

Posted on 04 August 2011

Gameloft is one of the biggest gaming studios in the world, but now its profit is increasingly dependent on the mobile industry – the company’s titles for smartphones and tablets made up 30% of the total sales in the first half of the year. Tablet and smartphone Gameloft releases grew by 55% in sales in the first semester to reach some $32.7 million (23 million euro), and contributed to the developer’s consolidated sales of nearly $109.2 million. That’s an increase of 15% when compared to the same period last year. The biggest chunk of Gameloft’s sales fell on Europe with 33%, followed by North America with 28%.

The growth is set to continue in the second half of the year as Gameloft plans on releasing some twenty new titles for smartphones and tablets. The company also mentioned the growing importance of emerging markets and technologies like social network gaming and smart TVs.

Gameloft is the studio behind games like the Asphalt series and NOVA shooters, but it’s not the only company to ride the mobile wave. EA Sports has also suggested that with so many platforms all offering the same games, it might be a wise move to offer their gaming portfolio for one fixed price across different systems. Even if this doesn’t happen in the near future, though, mobile gaming seems to have established itself as a key factor, one that gaming producers can’t afford to ignore.

Posted on 02 August 2011

Phones like the Sony Ericsson Xperia ray, which we previewed not long ago, are boasting a svelte homescreen launcher, which is reserved for the new Timescape interface, but the .apk file has now leaked for anyone with an Xperia phone to install. There is a new feature called “Themes” and other little changes like a button on the right of the app drawer that allows you to directly uninstall apps from there.

There is also a Widget overview mode, where the widgets you’ve placed on your various homescreens are floating around in a grouped view, allowing you to spread them all over the display by shaking the handset.

The leaked .apk with the new Home Launcher has been tested on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, Xperia arc and Xperia Play already, and seems to work without any issues. Hit the source link if you want to try it out on your Sony Ericsson Xperia line handset.

Posted on 01 August 2011

There’s no kidding that Android users are presented with the utmost best Gmail experience, and to further strengthen the popular service, it’s being updated with some new features.

Version 2.3.5 of the Gmail app for Android is now available for download and literally will help cut down on power and bandwidth consumption – something that’s indeed nice for those on a budget. From the looks of it, you’ll have the ability to sync only priority emails, which in turn, will allow your handset to eat less power and data.

Additionally, we find other new features like a new option that allows you to set custom alert tones for the various labels, ability to set “Show Pictures” for specific senders, turn off sticky message actions, and better TalkBalk support for accessibility. And of course, it wouldn’t be an update if various “performance improvements” weren’t on board for the ride as well.

So if you haven’t done so already, you can download the latest version of the Gmail app for Android directly from the Android Market.